Expert: Willie Ansley Jr. - 6/23/2009

Question
My 10 year old is on an All-Star team and he is being benched alot due to his low batting average.    Out of 48 at bats he has 17 walks, 4 hit by pitchers, and 8 or 9 strike outs.  Out of all of this he has 7 RBIs.  He has one of the highest on base percentages on the team but that does not seem to matter. One of his coaches told him as he was going to bat that he only has 6 hits for the season so far. This really brought my son down.   My son has never been in such a bad slump.  He is disappointed in his self and the comments that are being made are shutting him down even more.  I told the coach that his comments were only making matters worse adding more pressure to him when he comes to bat. Our games are 4 to 6 innings long and he sits 2 to 3 innings in most of the games.  Rarely does he play a full game.  He was like the 8th or 9th batter now he is 11th.  He is not used to being so far back in the lineup or being benched so often. This is really bothering him. All his coach cares about is the batting.  He does not care that my son is making all of these great plays on the field.  He says that it is all about the batting.  I always thought fielding was as important as batting.  Do you have any advise to give me that might help me get him out of this slump and help me get his spirits up?  He is so frustrated because no matter how well he plays on the field he still sits because of the batting average.  He is feeling like what is the point?  Nothing I do is good enough.  He is a great ball player and he has alot of potential.  I just don't want this to make him lose the love for the game or make him give up.  Thanks for your time.

Answer
I think your situation happens alot in LL because parents seem to forget that they are coaching a TEAM. That means to me that you should try to find away to get a player in the game using his strong points.I would tell your son that he needs to keep his head up and be ready when he gets his chance.Stay positive.I know it can be hard but he cant let this ruin his love for the game.As he gets older he will see what a real coach sees in the game that is important.